Improvement in machines for picking rags or waste



J. T. SLACK. Machine for Picking Rags or Waste.

No. 214,462. Patented April 15, 18.79.

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i Jam u & N, PETERS, PHOTO-LITHDGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. u c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN T. SLACK, OF SPRINGFIELD, VERMONT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHTTO WILLIAM H. H. SLACK, ()F SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR PICKING RAGS OR WASTE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 214,462, dated April15, 1879; app.ication filed January 29, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN T. SLACK, of Springfield, in the county ofWVindsor and State of Vermont, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Machines for Picking Rags or Waste; and that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, referencebeing bad to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon, making part of this specification.

This invention is in the nature of an improvement in machines forpicking rags or waste; and the invention consists in a machine forpicking rags or waste constructed with a receptacle located at the backof the pickingcylinder, and at such a height and distance from thecylinder as will enable it to catch the scraps of rags, yarn, &c., thatare thrown upward and backward by the cylinder as it revolves in anunpicked condition.

Within the receptacle is a fan or blower, constructed to revolve andforce the unpicked scraps of yarn, 850., through a conduit and returnthem to the feed-apron directly in front of the feed-rolls, and thenceagain to the action of the picking-cylinder, to be picked.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinalsection of my improvement for rag -pickin g machines; and Fig. 2, a planor top view of same, partly in section.

Similarletters of reference indicate like parts in the two figures.

In machines for picking rags and waste for the manufacture of shoddy,&c., it is a common thing, as the cylinder revolves, that pieces orscraps of yarn, rags, &c., are thrown off by the revolving of thecylinder before they are properly picked by it, and in this state arecarried out of the machine, where they are assorted or removed by handfrom the shoddy, &c., that has been thoroughly picked. To obviate thisdifficulty, I place a receiver or receptacle, A, at such a height aboveand at such a distance in the rear of the picking-cylinder B as toenable it to catch such unpicked pieces of yarn, &c., as they are thrownupward and backward by the revolving pickingcylinder 13, so that as suchpieces or scraps are in this way thrown off by the action of thepicking-cylinder they are caught by one or more rolls, 0, which, as theyrevolve, assist in carrying such scraps, &c., into the receptacle A.Within the receptacle is placed a fan-blower, D, and from the receptaclepasses a conduit or tunnel, E. This tunnel extends from the receptacleto and immediately in front of the feed-apron ordinarily used in suchmachines, and directly in front of the feed-roll F of the machine.

Now, my improved rag and waste picker, constructed as I have describedit, is operated as follows: The rags, yarn, 860., to be picked or to beconverted into shoddy are fed onto the ordinary feed-apron by thefeed-roll F, and pass under the action of the picker-cylinder B. As thispicker-cylinder revolves, pieces of unpicked rags, yar-n, 850., arethrown upward by the action of the cylinder and caught by the roll 0,which conveys them into the receptacle A, whence they are blown, by theaction of the blower D, through the conduit E back to the feeding-apronand feedingroll F, to be again passed to the action of thepickingcylinder, and so on until all the material passing through themachine is thoroughly picked.

At the terminus of the conduit E, at the front of the feed-roll H, isplaced an air-vent, G, covered by a screen, F, so that the action of theblower will be somewhat lost at the front end of the conduit, and notscatter the pieces of scrap, 820., as they issue from the conduit, thescreen preventing the scraps from being carried outward.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A machine for picking rags or waste, constructed with a receptacleplaced to receive from the picking-cylinders unpicked scraps of yarn,rags, &c., and return them to the action of thepicking-cylinders,substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In a machine for picking rags or waste, a receptacle for receivingunpicked scraps from the picking cylinders, in combination with a blowerplaced therein and a conduit, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

3. In a machine for picking rags or waste, a conduit constructed toconvey unpicked scraps or pieces of yarn, &c., to the feeding-apron andpicking-cylinders, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. In a machine for picking rags or waste,

in combination with a roll and a receptacle for receiving unpickedpieces ofyarn, and a blower and conduit, an air-vent protected byascreen, substantially as and for the purpose described.

JOHN T. SLACK.

Witnesses:

CHARLES C. J OHNSON, GEORGE F. FLETCHER.

